Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple user equipment devices (UE). Each UE communicates with one or more base stations, such as an evolved Node B (eNB) via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the eNBs to the UEs, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the UEs to the eNBs. This communication link may be established via a single-in-single-out, multiple-in-single-out or a multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) system.
The UEs can communicate with the eNBs over one or more radio access bearers (RAB), which can each have specified quality-of-service (QoS) or similar properties. As load at a radio access network (RAN) increases, the RAN can become congested, and a quality of experience (QoE) at a UE can decrease, though related services at the UE still meet the QoS of the related RAB. Such QoE degradation, for example, can manifest in perceived delay in web browsing, file download, call setup, etc. on the UE, choppy video or audio streaming (or decreased quality thereof), and/or the like. Different applications are susceptible to different QoE effects given a level of congestion at the RAN. Some solutions effectuate resource redistribution in the RAN where load information is provided by the RAN to the core wireless network, which can accordingly throttle traffic in view of the congestion in attempted improvement of QoE for one or more services. The throttling required to effectuate the resource redistribution, however, may not be straightforward, and may result in unduly complex and inaccurate operation.
Therefore, methods and apparatuses that provide UE assisted congestion control may be desired.